Discovery
by Arrwik
Summary: Artemis and Near challenge eachother's intellect.
1. Near Finds an Intruder

**Tokyo, Japan**

It was a quiet room, all that could be heard the humming of super computers and the sound of metal hitting wood. A teenager with long hair draped down to the back of his neck. Dark, black eyes stared at the block of wood he was holding. The "block" could not be considered a block anymore, as it had lost its shape already. Only two sides were left on the block, one side standing up and the other side flat down. The standing side was slightly longer than the one laying flat on the boy's hand. The teenager sat cross-legged with a laptop on his lap. Near, dressed in a plaid dress shirt accompanied with a very light blue jacket stared at his laptop screen as he dropped his knife and block and played with little dolls. Mellow, L, Light and the "old-crew" were now part of his master collection. Today, there would be a new set. He played with a clean, naked, faceless and hairless doll, only with an emotionless expression across its face. There was a thin line that represented its mouth that Near just drew. Near shaded in the doll's face; this was the mystery man. Then, using a ballpoint pen, he marked the sides on the shape. It was a model laptop. A smile stretched across Near's face. There was a knock on his door. Pressing several commands, Near switched to a program that enabled him to see who was behind the door. It was one of his new assistants, by the name of Elen. Her blond hair was bundled up in a bun and she wore a gun on her waist. He flicked off the red laser that automatically tracked any intruder's forehead. Remotely, he unlocked the door.

"Elen?"

"Near-sama. I've discovered an intruder on the Japanese International Top Security files. The intruder's exploit have been backed-up with several other exploits. The attacker's amassed a giant cyber attack of some sort. Apparently he or she has not deleted or damaged any files. The intruder hasn't even copied the files or anything. It seems harmless, but anyhow our system has been wormed into. Right now, the attacker is in the Classified Section on the Deathnote case."

Near's eyes flashed. That was quick; only 48 hours ago had he supplied her with a laptop and several master codes to a few of the minor Japanese Police's databases. It was amazing how she had managed to discover the same intruder that Near he himself had just half an hour ago.

Raising he eyebrow, he mumbled, "And how did you get to the Deathnote case? That security level was programmed by myself."

The reply was simple. "Simple. I compared the six passwords that were provided to me and realized that they all had something in common. Either the first 4 or last 4 digits were numbers, dates to be precise. I searched up the dates and observed that they were dates that you cracked some of the hardest cases in Japanese history. It was a pretty tough task, but I researched all the special cases that you've worked on that took you a while and amassed a large amount of information which I then set up a bot to repeatedly hammer in those dates until I had most of the Japanese Police files in my hands." She took a deep breath as Near just nodded.

Reaching into his shirt pocket, a thought flashed across his mind. _She was only a trainee. _Excusing that thought, he pulled out a badge that read, "警視" or Police Chief. She eyed the badge and murmured, "Keishi? Why?"

Near played with his sideburns and then said, "You've earned it. Good job, Keishi Elen. You will now be one of my personal assistants from now on."

She was surprised, almost bewildered. Then, she blushed and shook hands with him and said, "I'm sure I will enjoy working with you, Near- sama."

"Good. You can leave the attacker as of now, I'll take care of that and drop the 'sama' please. It makes me feel old."

"Very well." She left the room and was astounded at how quickly she was promoted.

Near sighed. The list of commands that he ran were done. The attacker was burrowing deeper and deeper into the Deathnote case. He decided to play around with him. Using several commands, he first shorted the connection for five minutes. He moved the Deathnote file into a different location and he replaced it with parking ticket analysis' for the month of July. A slow smile was beginning to stretch on his face. He could visualize the man's abashed expression on the other side of the connection. Near imagined the man reading Yagami's profile the profile and a minute later, the profile on a Toyota that was towed a day ago. Near flicked his side burn aside and turned his attention to the Coroner's Report on a man who had killed the entire family of a renowned prosecutor...


	2. Foaly

**Fowl Manor, Ireland **

Artemis stared at his sixty inch plasma television hooked by HDMI cable to his super computer with mock disbelief. Sipping his Earl Grey tea and fiddling with a LEP helmet, Artemis Fowl gave the widescreen television a sigh. Artemis played "Canon by Pachebell" in the background to enlighten the momentarily rather boring task at hand.

As he replaced the last screw in the modified LEP helmet a thought entered his mind that brought a smile to his face. "Folly wouldn't like my modifications. Too bad I don't have magic anymore so I can't be tried for fairy copyright violation." Then, he looked up to his monitor again, "My, my. That Kira guy was getting interesting." Artemis took a millisecond to think. It was exactly eleven in Ireland so it should be seven o'clock in Tokyo, Japan. "Brunch time it is then."

Brunch with Butler was disappointing. Artemis flew his private jet personally to France to enjoy himself with the Butlers as there had been no break since the Koboi was caught. When they touched down in France, Artemis received a message from Foaly warning him about breaching international cyber security. "Artemis! This time it's Tokyo, Japan, eh? What's next? The United States of America? If they manage to get into your computer, everything about the People will be revealed to the human race!" "Like I ever get caught." Artemis smirked.

At the restaurant, Juliet had been eating a salad with special dressing and Butler feasted on a sizzling lamb steak. Artemis did not favor the particular caviar on his plate, but it would do. He sipped Dom Perigon with the Butlers and attempted to squirm inside the Japanese classified files again. The Kira and Ryuzaki characters were becoming more and more interesting and Artemis was being tempted to finish reading the interesting Coroner reports.

"Artemis-" Butler laid a burly and muscular hand on his young charge's shoulder. Artemis was frightened by the sudden disturbance and he almost jolted.

"Butler?" Artemis looked at the bodyguard questionably. Then, glancing at the grandfather clock he was facing, Artemis realized it was time to leave. He had an appointment with his father at a headquarters of Fowl Industries, strategically placed in France under Artemis' command. Artemis himself had checked the stocks and though he was not physically present at the executive board meetings, he knew everything that was going on. Today, Fowl Sr. would be visiting, probably checking up on his son. Artemis sighed.

***

"Father, I can assure you that all things are going well." Artemis was trying to convince his father that Fowl Industries' place in the stock market was fine and did not need more attention his father was demanding from his son. "After all, I am a genius."

Artemis' father sighed deeply, wondering if his son would ever lose. Perhaps Arty did need a lesson on self-discipline. He was too egoistic. "Don't let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn't go with it. Newt Gingrich."

Artemis Fowl II was silent as if deep in thought then a thin smile stretched across his face and he said, "I'm sure that's Colin Powell, father. Anyhow, not to worry besides I'm barely eighteen. I won't be CEO of Fowl Industries in a long time. Besides, I'm present at all the Executive Board meetings."

"Erm? What? Executive Board meetings?" Artemis Fowl's father almost choked. "That's confidential company information, son."

Artemis scoffed and asked, "Father, don't you mean, 'how?'" Keeping a thin smile on his face, he continued, "Your laptop, Dad. Whenever you had a meeting, all the audio was streamed to my computer and from there onto my mobile phone. I know about Carter, the Executive Manager that you fired and about that French man Pierre who took his place. I'm not too fond of that decision, actually…"

All Artemis Fowl I could do was sigh. Looking at his overly intelligent son, he said, "My son, you know too much. Anyhow, I have an Executive Board meeting today. This time, I'll bring a different laptop." He got up from his office and left the room.

Too bad that all his father's laptops were hooked up to a particular network that streamed audio to Artemis' computer. Suddenly, his mobile phone lit up. "Excuse me father." He had already left the room. Artemis took a quick breath. He looked at his phone, it read, "Lizzy's Everything Pet Inc." Short for LEP.

"Foaly? What's the matter?" Artemis stared at the centaur in front of his face. A goatish smile was spread across his friend's face. A "baaah" followed it. "We need you, Artemis."


	3. Double Operation

This should be an interesting chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl or Deathnote

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Foaly to Artemis**

"Artemis. Opal Koboi is in France. Apparently, since the beginning she has been developing something that allows her to become a human for 96 hours. The problem is that she still has her fairy powers. She broke out of her cell by using the Mesmerizing a LEP officer many years ago. Opal exploited the poor pixie to use the Deathnote that I made you read about. D'Arvit!, she ended up killing an entire taskforce. Good thing we caught her and destroyed the Deathnote before any more harm could be done." Foaly grunted.

Artemis felt for the ring on his finger that was a disguised transmitter. "Is Holly alright?" Foaly "baahed" and said, "Don't worry. Commander Short is fine. I've deployed a team in France. They're equipped so that they can enter areas without permission. I need you to help me keep track of Opal as Holly and I direct the team. We need Butler to catch her if she escapes. Wear sunglasses. Foaly out."

**Paris, France**

There was a peace in Paris. Couples held hands. Tourists took pictures of the Eiffel Tower and there was generally a happy, joyous and sanguine atmosphere. That was true, except for the Police Chief yelling into a Bluetooth device. He had dark hair and few wrinkles, but the Chief was an insightful detective. Having worked with two of the greatest detectives in the world, Touta Matsuda was an amazing officer. In the past ten years since his promotion, he caught numerous criminals and in a sense, became what "L" used to be. Matsuda had taken up smoking since he had shot Light a decade ago. Though he was now almost a different man, entirely, the memory still haunted him. Had he done the right thing? Was Light doing the right thing?

Touta Matsuda took a deep puff off his cigarette and continued yelling at his college. "What's your expatiation on this matter!? I put you in charge for a reason Lester!"

There was chatter and excuses on the other side of the phone.

Where's Aizawa! You said that everyone in Joint-FBI team was killed?

More muttering.

I'm on vacation, Lester-san. I'll be back in a week. Matsuda out." Matsuda took yet another inhale of the tobacco. Sweeping his hair to the side, he mumbled, "Why did I become Chief in the first place?" His phone rang again. "What?!"

"Matsuda san. It's very nice to talk to you again after all these years." That voice. It was someone that Matsuda knew. It was so familiar, yet so distant at the same time. Who was it? A commissioner or commander? A spy that he planted inside a mafia? Sachiko Yagami? No. Definitely not. That was when it struck him. _Near. _

"Near-sama. I would never think that you would contact me after the Kira case was over. How are you? _Where_ are you?" Matsuda spluttered. He stopped himself from rambling and listened to Near's answer.

"Please Matsuda san, drop the formalities. Your rank is higher than mine now. In fact, I hardly work for the Japanese Police anyways. I want to warn you of something. There was a hacker prowling around the Kira case. I moved it and secured it. The hacker is smart though. I've traced his computer with difficulties, and I realized that he's in Paris, on a laptop. Furthermore, I've got some background."

Matsuda took awhile to comprehend all the information. "Near-sama. I want to know _why_ you are telling me all this? I am no longer an agent under you; you gave me that proposition yourself. Do you want me to track this intruder down?"

Near sighed. "Yes, Matsuda san. I would like you to work for me once more. I believe I've found someone as cunning and as intelligent as Kira. I do not know of any criminal intent except for the cyber attack on the Japanese Top Secret Cases. Our target is a teenager. His name is 'Emmesey Squire', but I highly suspect it to be an alias. He has raven black hair and blue eyes, but he may be wearing contacts. I managed to decipher some letters in his real name. 'A, R, M, I, and his last name is Fowl."

"_Fowl"_ Matsuda recognized that name. _"Fowl Enterprises_. The Fowl family was a create bloodline of criminals too." He took a breath and replied to Near, "And if I refuse your command, Near sama?" There was a laugh on the other line.

An agent tapped Matsuda on the shoulder and answered the question for him. "You can't, Matsuda." Matsuda's eyes widened. It was an old colleague. "Mogi. I see you've stayed close with Near."

Near chuckled. "I've deployed a team of my best men to help you track Fowl. Report to me if you find anything. I think he has a power that is not as strong as Kira's but combined with his intellect, he's likely to be lethal."

***

Artemis listened to the conversation intently. "Seems like the Japanese Police are looking for me." Artemis yawned. He glanced at his watch and called Foaly up. "Foaly. Stall the Above-Grounds Operation. The Japanese Police are in Paris. They're looking for me."

"No can do Artemis. I picked up the Bluetooth conversation about ten minutes ago, but Commander Short already sent the command to start moving out. The operation can't be stopped from here."

"Why? Didn't you equip the team so that they don't lose their magic if they go above ground?"

"If LEP Recon Elite Task Squad is stopped now, we can't redeploy them. The equipment that they're using are prototypes, they'll only last for two hours before the whole team loses all their magic. The equipment bends The People's Law itself. It's up to you Artemis. You can't be found or the whole operation will fail. Move to the checkpoint. Our agents will shield you once you're there."

***


	4. First Contact

Thanks to all my reviewers, I wouldn't have continued if it were for all of you. I've been stuck with writer's block recently and several tests are on their way. So simply said, I'm going to put my thoughts on paper and unless it gets interesting this will probably be a short chapter. 'Nuff said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Contact

Artemis glanced at his watch, one that he had pillaged from the Russian Mafia. It was a Limited Edition Rolex, modified to fit Artemis' needs. Sure, the price of the original watch depreciated enormously, but over time, it was the wrist-equivalent of the C-Cube that Artemis had developed with LEP connections running constant. If it weren't for Foaly, Artemis would have added a thin laser with the impact of shot from a Neutrino 3000. "Maybe he should create one with that in mind for Holly." Artemis nudged the thought aside and counted down for the arrival of LEP and, unfortunately, the Japanese Police Taskforce, lead by Near, the _other genius_. Artemis disliked Near, one of his few rivals in the competition for highest IQ in the world and the man who kicked him off the Kira case.

Artemis stood on a rotting podium. It was an abandoned building, perfect for a hideout, but even Artemis felt nausea as he entered the building. Butler was standing beside him. The walls were cement, but the paint was chipped and every hint of metal seemed to be rusted in the room.

A small team of ten were moving in shimmer suits; it was the LEP. Two pixies uniformed in shimmer suits were airborne, obviously surveying the area for Opal and, Matsuda's team. Artemis still had to debrief his squad on Matsuda and Near. His squad of ten were moving in pairs. He recognized Trouble Root and Mulch Diggums. There was even a Goblin Lieutenant, whose arm was tattooed with a heart, inscribed in the heart was "I Love Mom". There were also two sprites with Commander Acorns. These were LEP's finest. Good. Excluding the Goblin and Mulch, the lowest ranking officer was a Lieutenant Colonel, the new rank in the Lower Elements, right about Major and under Commander. And with Lieutenant Colonel, there had to be a Colonel rank.

When they reached the checkpoint, Artemis sealed the entrance with sparks from his hands. He smiled. "Team Artemis." Versus "Team Near." This would be interesting, very interesting. Gesturing to the crowd, he said, "I want names now, preferably code names. The Japanese Police Taskforce probably already know my name, but to you I will be known as Artemis."

The goblin puffed up a ball of flame in his hand and spat, "Mudmen? We're being lead by one and now tracked by one?" His tongue slithered back into his scaled mouth. _Intolerance_. A flash of anger rose up to Artemis' head. Then, almost instantly, he created a ball of blue sparks in his hand. He had never lost the magic. The blue light tingled in his hand and he shot it, not at the goblin, but at Mulch. Mulch had unhinged his jaw and was prepared to attack; a biased attempt, using Artemis as an excuse to pick a fight. Mulch was held back, restrained by the powerful magic.

Artemis looked at his friend and then the goblin. "Cooperation is of the utmost importance. Goblin. _I have magic._ And my friend over there, Mulch has a jaw and an appetite that will swallow you. Besides, my friend here, Butler can peel scales right off of you, _without magic. Please_ get along. I recognize Trouble and Mulch, but let's get codenames, quickly. Starting with you, goblin."

The goblin sneered. The officer adjacent to him offered his name, "Colonel Socrates that's my codename". Everyone was sitting down by now, but everyone seemed to know each other in one way or another. Artemis memorized the names and ranks that were being listed at a fast pace.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ruben," _Sprite._

"Major Stark." He even saluted. _Pixie._ The goblin looked up, "Major Motor Stark!?" Stark flashed a smile. The goblin was almost apologetic to both Major Stark _and _me. Utterly confused by this, Artemis assumed that this man, Stark held a high rank in the LEP. He shrugged. The goblin was the next to give his codename.

"My name is Ten, some call me Big Ten from my short gangster days as an undercover," pointing to his Acorns, he said, "Lieutenant." Artemis smiled, things were going smoothly.

"Mulch Diggums."

"Commander Gin Ivory, at your service." He smoked a fungus cigar, no bigger than the ones the late Julius Root smoked. Ivory was more interesting though as he blew smoke rings the shape of a four leaved clover.

"Colonel Martin, usually Marty. I'm the weapons specialist and hand to hand combat specialist." _Centaur. _

"Commander Rex." The pixie almost mumbled it. This was probably a professional, he was a Commander, fourth class. That was probably as high in the ranks as you can get. Being assigned under a Mudman was probably hard for him. Artemis shrugged it off. He introduced himself again, and Butler. The debriefing was not hard, these men were skilled in strategic maneuvers and had prior knowledge. Good old Foaly.

"Is everyone ready?" The group replied with a shout. "Yes sir!" He radioed Holly, on another building across the street, Holly, are you ready?"

"Almost there, Arty." She replied snidely. Her team was of ten people as well. She was well prepared. "Alright crew, let's move out." Both teams left their buildings and shielded themselves. They moved outside in broad daylight, which Mulch did not like at all, though the LEP suit helped. Artemis quickly analyzed the other team as they assembled together. There wouldn't be need for any more debriefing, but they would get to know names quickly. The group mainly consisted of elves and pixies, but the ranks were a stable Major to Colonel, no outlying Commanders. Artemis glanced at his watch for GPS and Infrared surveillance. Matsuda's team was already there.

Matsuda looked at his crew. There were about seven people, eight including himself. He recognized Mogi and other agents only from their profiles and exceptional service for the force. He debriefed quickly. "Everyone. My name is Matsuda. I do not know your names, but I wish to get to know them quickly. I am not familiar with this team, but Near tells me that I will be leading it. I want codenames, please." With his experience with Kira, code names were the best and since he himself had given his real name, these people would think that it was a codename and it reduced chances of being tracked.

He noted some of all of their names, which were mostly tree related, like "Little Root" and "Trunk". They all seemed to have good experience with guns, except for one guy who was ricocheting knives off the blank wall and watching them plunge into an abandoned stuff animal with wicked accuracy. Matsuda hoped that he was sane. He explained his strategic formation. "This is a search-and-destroy operation. We are headed to an abandoned building in Paris, where we are to eliminate any hostiles. Shooting, but no killing. Aim for non-vital organs. We do not know for sure if there will be an enemy ambush, but we are looking for a teenager, who may be leaking Japanese Classified Files to the Yakuza or internationally to terrorist organizations. Be armed and be ready. Move out!" Matsuda knew he was going to regret this.

He had set up an ambush, deploying officers in groups of three. Trunk, an exceptionally big and muscular man was paired with Mogi and Matsuda went solo. With his hand gun pointing downwards, he checked for any signs of terrorists or armed guerrillas, there were none. But as he turned around and looked at what seemed to be an empty street in between two large abandoned buildings, he saw them. There were about twenty _things_ and two humans. Matsuda thought he was hallucinating. Then, he thought about Ryuk. The beast, shinigami. Was it because he touched the Deathnote that he could see what appeared to be fairies and elves? Matsuda raised his weapon higher and radioed Near, "Near, can you see this via satellite?"

Near received Matsuda's call and zoomed into his GPS location. He was right. There were so-called fairies in existence. He had prepared the team well. When Near hand-picked his men, they had all written their telephone numbers and telephone numbers only in a sheet from the Deathnote, just in case anymore shinigami were prowling around. No names, no deaths. Perhaps if a human touched the Deathnote, they would be able to see faries as well. These fairies were high tech. Unlike Ryuk, they wore professional looking suits and the human seemed to be conversing with them. This was about to get interesting. "Matsuda, call your team in. Ambush and capture if possible. Move out."


	5. Matsuda's Will

Even though I have been inactive for several months, I've finally decided to pick up on 'Discovery' amidst the amount of school work I have still yet to do. Although it is very short, I proudly present the 5th chapter of _Discovery_.

"_Be careful Mogi. Lead your crew up building A and eliminate anyone that you find." _

Matsuda was looking through binoculars – surveying the area from a floor in building A2. A2 was right across from A, which was the largest and biggest building, conveniently located right in the middle of all the buildings. All around were old, deserted and crumbling buildings, built in the Renaissance. He recalled Sachiko Yagami's famous words when he was trained at Police Academy, "as a cop, if you don't realize your surroundings, you're dead." Old, crumbly buildings and a bad airborne view – plus, multiple escape routes; it seemed like a perfect place for Artemis to act. Matsuda checked on the teams. Team B had taken patrol on the streets and Team A was divided into a demolition team and a sniper team. Demo headed up the central building armed with all sorts of heavy-fire weapons and the snipers were to lay low until the building was clear. "Looks like things are going smoothly.

**Near's Office**

"Two brilliant minds, both alike in dignity in fair Paris…" Near muttered to himself. Near was in his dark office, a wide rectangular room with several super computers and large plasma screen televisions as monitors. The only light and heat in the room was emitted by the televisions and the computers. He was flipping a coin to pass time as he waited on the operation. A group of orange blinking dots spontaneously appeared on his map of the operation area. He radioed Matsuda.

Matsuda puffed his cigarette as he stared at the sunset. His wife should be waiting for him. Thoughts fluttered in and out of his mind. "Why would Near get _me _to track Artemis? He could always dispatch someone else. Does this have to do with Deathnote?"

-Beep- "Yo, Matsuda here."

"Matsuda. There's a threat at building C2. Get the men on the streets to C2 and keep the advance on building A. Clear it and take them up to the roof, I hope they brought snipers, because we're going to need them."

"Already done N. There's no need for teaching me tactics. All you've got is a computer screen. I have years of experience under my belt."

After scoffing, Near spoke into the radio. "Another thing," Near twisted his left sideburn, "I want you to stay alone on the roof building A3, adjacent to building A. It's two blocks away from your current position. Have a patrol team accompany you to the top floor. You go up to the roof and tell them to standby. Make sure they are ready to take action. We're going to lure Artemis."

"You want me to be a decoy." Matsuda seemed shocked.

"Looks like you've developed some brains since the last time we've taken action." Near grinned, devilishly.

"I have a wife and two children. I'm not putting my life on the line. I can't chance Kira risk-level operations. You're alone in some room in Japan and I'm here. I could be killed in my current position and you want me to stay out in the open?"

"Sachiko didn't complain like you did."

A multitude of thoughts flooded Matsuda's mind. He admired the Police Chief and even L. All three of them, with the exception of Near of course. In the past, he blamed himself for not being able to fire on Light earlier. He blamed himself for being ineffective. His heart pounded and felt a pressing on his chest whenever he thought of his failures. L died. Then Sachiko. He put the final bullet into Kira, but was that the right decision? The people he admired the most all had the willpower to sacrifice. "Sachiko…"

"Patrol, I'm moving to building A2. Give me a small squad. All heavy duty weapons and two snipers. I'll be down in ten minutes. Rendezvous site is building A4, which is adjacent to A2. Move out."


End file.
